Lose It All
by PuppyNoelle
Summary: 7th yr,post HBP. Despite the raging war, Ron’s life finally seems to be turning around. But there is one thing that still doesn't make sense to him: Luna Lovegood. Can he choose between her and his best friends? FULL DESCRIPTION INSIDE
1. Chapter I

**Lose It All  
****by**** Puppy Noelle**

Disclaimer: I own myself, my ideas, my many and numerous notebooks, my imagination, and a few other things nothing worth actual monetary value and basically other than that I own nothing. And, sadly, I own none of the copyrights, trademarks, etc that have to do with the Harry Potter world.

Description: 7th year; Despite the raging war and turmoil of the wizarding world, Ron's life finally seems to be turning around: the crush he's had on Hermione since fourth year is finally becoming more than just a one-sided thing, he becomes a much better Quidditch player, he proves himself to Fred and George, his grades finally start to improve, and he even befriends "Loony" Luna Lovegood. But as he tries to decipher Luna's mysterious ways and defend her from relentless tormenters and non-believers, he must choose between being a renowned hero alongside his two best friends and being the hero of a single lonely girl.

Genres: Romance, Drama (a little bit of everything really, but those are the main two)

Pairings: Ron/Luna, Harry/Hermione, Ginny/Neville

Rating: PG-13, T, whatever the ratings are now… it's too hard to keep track of all the insane changes on this site...

A/N: Tee hee! My first posted Ron/Luna story! Yay! Oh, btw, a note to Ron/Hermione fans: this is not a R/Hr story! I do not like that particular pairing, i'm just trying to piss myself off (which is working) in order to get myself to write more often; i find it much more enjoyable to get to the parts that i like, so if something sucks right before a good part, then i'm moreinclined to write through the sucky part. Anyways... It's annoying as hell how they're not allowing we authors to respond to our readers' reviews anymore; I think it's a bunch of b.s.: I love my reviewers too much! At least they haven't banned author notes… or maybe they have? Who knows, they've pretty much banned _everything_. What are they gonna ban next? Disclaimers? The stories themselves? Yeah, needless to say I'm unhappy with the current predicament. The other banned stuff I can handle like 'no advertising stuff' etc. etc., but this has gone too far. It's nearly impossible to let reviewers know how you respond to their reviews if you're not allowed to respond to them. Oh well, not much I can do about it I suppose. I don't' normally write responses to my reviewers anyways, but every so often I get a reviewer who asks me a question or has something that I find crucial to discuss, and I enjoy having that privilege (especially since not all reviewers leave email addresses.) Anyways, I suppose the time to rant has passed, so I hope you enjoy the story! This one's going to be a long one, and I've got pretty much the entire story mapped out on four pages of notes and I'm in the middle of chapter three, so I'll post chapter two fairly soon. Enjoy!

My Inspiration:

_Take what you need  
__'Cause I can't hold my breath  
__Say what you feel  
__'Cause I've got nothing left  
__Oh, I made a promise to myself last night  
__I'm going to keep it if it's wrong or right_

_And if I lose it all  
__There'll be nothing left to lose  
__And I will take the fall  
__'Cause knowing you are out there breathing  
__Is so wonderful  
__It's a chance I'll take  
__Even if I break  
__And I lose it all  
__If I lose it all  
__It wouldn't matter anyway_

_Don't change a thing  
__You're perfect as you are  
__Time has a way  
__Time is all I've got  
__If my heart should shatter watching you  
__There'd be one less thing I'd have to prove_

_And if I lose it all  
__There'll be nothing left to lose  
__And I will take the fall  
__'Cause knowing you are out there breathing  
__Is so wonderful  
__It's a chance I'll take  
__Even if I break  
__And I lose it all  
__If I lose it all_

_Heaven will be waiting  
__When I fall into your open arms  
__I believe you'll find me there  
__You'll find me there_

_And if I lose it all  
__There'll be nothing left to lose  
__And I will take the fall  
__'Cause knowing you are out there breathing  
__Is so wonderful  
__It's a chance I'll take  
__Even if I break  
__And I lose it all  
__If I lose it all  
__And if I lose it all  
__There'll be nothing left to lose  
__And I will take the fall  
__'Cause knowing you are out there breathing  
__Is so wonderful  
__It's a chance I'll take  
__Even if I break  
__And I lose it all  
__If I lose it all  
__It wouldn't matter anyway_

--**_Lose It All  
_**--_Backstreet Boys  
_--_"Never Gone"_

* * *

**Chapter I:** _An Odd Start_

It was nearly eleven o'clock a.m. when Ron Weasley groggily made his way down the stairs of the Burrow. The summer heat and lack of things to do made sleeping in late a very easy and enjoyable thing to do. His mother had even given up on trying to wake him at a decent hour; it took far too much time to drag him out of his room than Molly Weasley thought suitable for her schedule. Her only punishment for her youngest son was not allowing him to eat breakfast when he woke up at such unreasonable hours. Ron didn't mind though; all he had to do was sneak into the cabinets when she wasn't in the kitchen and take some snacks up to his room— which now had various snack items tucked away where only he could find them.

He eventually made his way into the kitchen to find his mother there, already beginning lunch preparations.

"Good morning Ronald dear," she said as she pulled various ingredients out of the cabinets.

"G'morning," he mustered as he poured himself a glass of orange juice. As he sleepily turned around and began to walk towards the table, he collided with something, and whatever it was, came tumbling to the ground with him, entangling itself in his legs. But before he could react at all, he felt a cold splash all over his face and chest. He groaned miserably. What a wonderful way to start the day.

The person he had run into started detangling themselves from his legs, but apparently when they tried to lift themselves from the floor, a simultaneous bonk and high pitched yelp of surprise came from the table.

After he'd wiped all the remaining orange juice out of his eyes, he sat up and opened them to have his vision obscured by some stringy golden-yellow substance. He noticed a small feminine hand rubbing a spot on the top of the girl's head before the head back up, smacking right into his face. He pushed himself to the floor, clutching his nose, praying that it wasn't bleeding. The sudden movement caused the still tangled girl to fall backwards on top of him, with her elbow falling accidentally into his stomach and her blonde strands flying into his face.

"OW!" he bellowed at the impact of her elbow in her stomach.

"Oh dear…" he head his mother say as her footsteps hurried over to the scene. It wasn't long before Mrs. Weasley had untangled the two and helped the girl up onto her feet. She quickly turned her attention to her injured son and moved him into a sitting position. She pulled his hands away from his face and he opened his eyes, afraid that he might see blood all over them, but they were clean, except for the sticky juice. As his mother examined him, he dropped his hands and looked up at the cause of his injuries. He recognised her immediately— it was Luna Lovegood. She was wearing baggy jeans, sneakers, her usual radish earrings, and a solid white tank-top that was now soaked with orange juice. Her face was filled with mild surprise at the incident, but when he caught her eye, she returned to her usual dreamy state. "Hello Ronald," she said in the most awkward tone he thought she could possibly muster.

His ears turned pink. "Err… hi Luna," he mustered, "Uh… what are you doing here?"

"Ginny invited me over. I'm staying over for the week while Daddy's away looking into a new story."

"Oh," he said as his mother stood up, satisfied that there were no serious injuries to her son.

"You're fine, now get up and go clean yourself up, Ronald," Mrs. Weasley said as she lightly whacked the back of his head with a dishrag. "Luna dear, you can wash up in my bathroom. It's right through my bedroom, first door on the left."

"Okay," the blonde responded dreamily before gliding out of the kitchen.

Ron blinked after her before shrugging it off and picking himself off the ground. With his taste for orange juice temporarily gone, he proceeded back to his bedroom for a change of clothes and went straight to the bathroom to shower.

Once he'd left the bathroom, he smelled lunch downstairs and quickly made his way to the kitchen.

When he arrived, Fred and George were there and say on one side of the table. Once they'd caught his eye, they glanced at Luna across the table and started snickering when they'd looked back at him. Ginny, who was next to Luna, noticed Ron enter and soon began imitating the twins.

Ron shot death glares at all three of them in turn, and, in an attempt to avoid further teasing, sat on Luna's free side. This, however, had the opposite effect. Fred and George broke out howling with laughter and Ginny giggled so much her face was beginning to turn red. Across form Ron, George started puckering his lips tauntingly, while Fred teasingly batted his eyelashes. Ginny now looked on the verge of tears from laughing so hard. Ron's ears had turned pink and his entire face became red with rage as he growled at his siblings. He gripped his wand, pulling it out of his pocket. He said angrily, "Do I have to remind you: I'm seventeen now and I can use magic whenever I want!"

But just as he'd pointed his wand at Fred's face, Mrs. Weasley walked back into the kitchen and "Accio wand!" erupted from her mouth. Ron's want shot from his hand and into his mother's. "No attacking you brothers at the table!"

"But Mum! They were teasing me!" he said, attempting to get her on his side.

She glared at him as she pocketed his wand. "Even so, that still doesn't give you the right to jinx them for it!"

"But—"

"That's enough Ronald!" she snapped. He retreated quietly, defeated. She then turned her attention to Fred and George, who were on the verge of tears from laughing so hard. "As for you two," she said, pointing her own wand at them; they froze at this; "stop teasing your brother. Accidents happen, and neither of them sustained any serious injuries, so there is no need to go on about it!"

All four Weasley children became dead silent. They knew better than to push their mother too far nowadays: especially since she had been keener to lose her temper lately. Ever since Dumbledore's death she, and everyone else, had become both jumpier and moodier than before. They had noticed it on all the faces of the various Order members that had passed through the Burrow. The only signs of happiness that they had seen were when Lupin and Tonks both stopped by together. They usually held hands with fingers closely entwined— and even then they usually brought bad news with them.

Mrs. Weasley finally calmed down, and began filling their bowls with soup. Once her own bowl had been filled, she flicked her wand and the pot floated back atop the stove. She took her seat at the end of the long table, next to Ginny, and they all began eating in silence.

Ron wished that he hadn't come downstairs at all as he forcefully swallowed a rather large gulp of hot soup. He peered around at the others at the table. Fred and George were both silently staring into their bowls, twirling their spoons around nervously amongst their afternoon nourishment. Mrs. Weasley now had her eyes fixated on the family clock, which was now placed directly in front of her bowl. He assumed that all of its hands were still glued to "mortal peril" as they usually were. Ginny had taken a break from her soup and had her eyes fixated on the empty chair across from her as she sipped from her glass of water. Finally, he looked next to him, at Luna, who had the most recent issue of _The Quibbler_ in one hand and her spoon in the other. Her eyes were glued to what appeared to be a comic of Scrimegeour, the new Minister of Magic, running around happily and telling everyone that Dumbledore was dead. He leaned in closer to read more of the comic— he'd never realized just how political the magazine actually was at times; after all, he was used to it being full of nothing but rubbish.

In his peripheral vision, he noticed Luna's eyes leaving the comic and instead catching his eye. He felt a tiny blush creeping onto his cheeks, but quickly forced his embarrassment away and tilted his head at the comic in her hand. She gave him a look of understanding and moved the magazine so he could get a better look. They both returned their eyes to the magazine and continued eating their lunch despite the room's awkward silence.

Luna was the first to finish eating and she retired to reading the article opposite the comic that a scowling Ron's eyes were glued to. Ginny, the next to finish, cleared away her dishes and tapped Luna on the shoulder. "Come on Luna; let's go up to my room," she said, tugging on the blonde girl's arm. Reluctantly, Luna allowed her best friend to pull her away from her comfortable spot at the table. She purposely dropped her magazine on the table next to Ron's nearly empty glass as she turned to follow the red-haired girl out of the kitchen.

Breaking his concentration on the displaced magazine, Ron turned his head and allowed his sapphire eyes to follow the trail of golden blonde locks as their owner disappeared up the stairs. He returned to his meal, picked up the fallen magazine with his free hand, and continued reading. After a few minutes, he stood up, satisfied with eating only half of his soup, and made his way out of sight.

Fred and George each raised an eyebrow inquisitively, exchanging curious glances between their younger brother's retreating form and each other. Even Mrs. Weasley donned a look of surprise at how little her youngest son had eaten.

Ron flipped through the pages of _The Quibbler_ lazily as he climbed the stairs, heading to his bedroom. He hoped Luna wouldn't mind if he borrowed it for a couple of hours. After all, she was the one who dropped in on the table in front of him. And so what if most of the stuff in the magazine was total rubbish, like Crumple-Horned Snorkacks; at least the stuff was amusing. He frowned. If anyone at Hogwarts knew that he found _The Quibbler_ entertaining they'd think he was as mental as Luna. Heaven knows he wouldn't want that. He decided it best that he not read anymore and instead of going to his own room, he headed to Ginny's room to return the magazine to Luna.

Once he reached the door, he knocked loudly on it and his sister's annoyed voice erupted from inside the room, "Hold on a minute!"

He rolled his eyes and made to open the door himself just as the door swung open revealing his irritated sister in its wake. "What do you want Ron?" she asked huffily, folding her arms across her chest. He peeked into the room and found the person he was looking for perched on Ginny's bed, staring straight at him. He quickly returned his attention to his sister, who was now becoming impatient.

"Luna left _The Quibbler_ at the table," he said, looking back at the girl on the bed, "I figured she'd want it back." Once again he turned back to Ginny and held the magazine out to her, but before Ginny had the chance to take it, Luna had appeared in front of her. She smiled at Ron, revealing pretty white teeth. Although surprised by the fact that she was actually _smiling_ at him, he couldn't help but smile back as he held out the magazine for her.

"Here you go," he said, not taking his eyes off her blue-topaz ones.

"Thank you Ronald," she said dreamily as she reached out, gently removing the item from his hand. She allowed herself to linger only a few seconds longer before retreating into the room, leaving Ginny to close the door.

Once she'd closed the door, Ginny turned to her best friend and stared at her incredulously. "What just happened there?" the red-head asked, "Was that _really_ my brother or was he under the Imperius curse?"

Luna shook her head, "I doubt that he's been cursed," she paused to ponder any other options, "He's probably just got some Wrackspurts floating around in his room… You know how they can make people go funny…"

Ginny couldn't help but release a giggle. No matter how crazy the creatures in _The Quibbler_ became, she knew that Luna would always believe in them. And even though most people thought of this as a sign of insanity, Ginny honestly thought of this odd quality as more amusing and endearing than anything else. As she sat down across from Luna and returned to their game of Exploding Snap, she wondered if maybe Ron was starting to see her best friend in the same light as she did. She knew, obviously, that Luna had fancied her brother since the girls' first year, but she never really thought that he could possibly return the sentiment: he was always too oblivious to notice the good things that were right in front of him. But now, just maybe, things could finally work out in her best friend's favour. Only time could tell.

Once his sister's door had closed, Ron heard her ask Luna, "What just happened there? Was that _really_ my brother or was he under the Imperius curse?"

He scowled and angrily turned away. He began swearing under his breath as he stomped up to his own room. Once he was inside, he slammed the door shut and threw himself onto his bed, still scowling. Why did his sister always have to ruin his good mood? Whether it was snogging guys right in front of him or simply finding ways to indult him, she had this incredibly annoying knack for finding ways to irritate him. Now that he thought about it, Hermione had that same knack for getting on his nerves. Except he fancied Hermione, right? Yes. But Luna… she didn't really irritate him. No. She just confused him if anything. And it was odd how he'd never noticed it before, but as he remembered the crazy blonde's appearance as he gave her her magazine, his mind began to wander.

She hadn't been wearing the same outfit that she wore at lunch. She wore an ankle length white skirt and a pale blue fitted t-shirt. He had never seen her wear such an attractive outfit before. She usually wore clothes that were quite baggy, so he'd always assumed that she had a boyish figure, but in that outfit he realized that she really had a nice petite, healthy, feminine figure. He smacked himself. 'She's my sister's best friend. Nothing can happen,' he thought, 'and besides, even if something _did_ happen, Ginny would kill me. _And_ people at school would torture me for it; and I fancy Hermione anyways. Right? Yes.'

He sighed and decided to ride on his broomstick for a while. That always helped him clear his head.

* * *

-End chapter one

Free hugs will go out to all reviewers! I sincerely hope you enjoyed this first chapter! I know I enjoyed writing Ron's "inner conflict" and there will be much more of that for those who found it as amusing as I have. Until next chapter!

-Hugs

-Noelle


	2. Chapter II

**Lose It All  
****by**** Puppy Noelle**

Disclaimer: I own myself, my ideas, my many and numerous notebooks, my imagination, and a few other things nothing worth actual monetary value and basically other than that I own nothing. And, sadly, I own none of the copyrights, trademarks, etc that have to do with the Harry Potter world.

Description: 7th year; Despite the raging war and turmoil of the wizarding world, Ron's life finally seems to be turning around: the crush he's had on Hermione since fourth year is finally becoming more than just a one-sided thing, he becomes a much better Quidditch player, he proves himself to Fred and George, his grades finally start to improve, and he even befriends "Loony" Luna Lovegood. But as he tries to decipher Luna's mysterious ways and defend her from relentless tormenters and non-believers, he must choose between being a renowned hero alongside his two best friends and being the hero of a single lonely girl.

Genres: Romance, Drama (a little bit of everything really, but those are the main two)

Pairings: Ron/Luna, Harry/Hermione, Ginny/Neville

Rating: PG-13, T, whatever the ratings are now… it's too hard to keep track of all the insane changes on this site...

A/N: Yay forChapter II, lol. I'm working on Chapter III now, but now that school's back in session my updates will probably be slow, but since this is the main story i'm working on at the moment, this will probably be updated before anything else is. Many apologies to those people who are probably impatiently awaiting an update on one of my many other stories.

* * *

**Chapter II: **_Hanging Out With Luna_

Although the feeling of the wind whipping through his hair as he rode his broom was probably the most comforting thing he'd ever experienced, Ron knew that he must come back down eventually. As he approached the ground, he saw Ginny and Luna relaxing on a picnic blanket with bowls full of ice cream in their hands.

He purposely landed right next to Ginny and asked, "Where'd you get that?" as he pointed at the homemade strawberry ice cream in her bowl.

Ginny grinned. "Mum made it while you were up there," she said, nodding her head toward the sky.

Ron glared at her. "Well somebody could've told me!"

Ginny giggled. "It's more fun this way," she said before teasingly hitting her brother's arm. "Now go inside and get some before there's none left."

He shouldered his broomstick and huffily walked toward the house saying, "Fine. I will then."

Once he'd gotten his ice cream, he decided to go annoy Ginny and hang out with Luna outside, so he laid his broomstick against the wall and made his way back to the two relaxed girls. Before he'd even sat down, he noticed Luna's eyes glued to him and Ginny's rolling in annoyance.

"What are you doing here, Ron? Go eat your ice cream somewhere else," his sister said, irritation clearly written on her face. He loved getting on her nerves.

"What's wrong?" he asked with mock innocence as he sat between the two girls, "I'm allowed to sit with my two favourite girls now aren't I?"

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Ron?" she asked as she pointed over his shoulder at the blonde girl who suddenly had a look upon her face of mixed joy and surprise. "That's _Luna_ you know: _Luna Lovegood_."

"I know," he said through a mouthful of ice cream. Luna beamed. Ginny ignored her best friend's bliss and continued with her point, "Uh Ron… in case you haven't noticed: Hermione's not here. It's just me and Luna."

He shrugged, still oblivious to her point. "Yeah, and if she _was_ here then I would have said my _three_ favourite girls, right?"

Ginny just sighed and shook her head. "Whatever you say…"

"So Ronald," Luna asked happily, "Did you find anything interesting in _The Quibbler_ earlier?"

He turned his attention to the blonde next to him and said, "Oh, besides that comic not much really…" She had reverted back to her usual dreamy state at his answer, but for a moment he thought he saw a flash of disappointment in her eyes. He hastily tried to rectify his mistake, "But I uh, didn't really have enough time to go through it properly. You see, right after I finished lunch I brought it right back to you."

She smiled vaguely at him sending a wave of relief through him. "Well," she said, pulling out the magazine, "Did you notice this article?" she asked, opened it to a specific page and handed him the magazine.

He took it and looked at the title. "'What Really Happened in the Department of Mysteries the Night He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Returned: A First Person Account'."

Luna smiled and quickly pointed just below the title. "Look just below it," she said happily.

He did so. "'Written by Luna Lovegood' Hey that's great!" he said grinning.

Luna was positively beaming. "The _Prophet_'s version was beginning to get annoying, so I owled Harry and asked him if it was alright if I could write the truth and he said he didn't have a problem with it. Daddy sent out a copy to him, Hermione, and Neville so they could read it. I wanted to show you and Ginny myself so I waited until I got here to show you two."

Ginny, who had now joined the conversation, grinned. "And you'd better read it Ron; you have absolutely no excuse not to. Besides, she's a brilliant writer."

"Well, in that case," he said, catching Luna's eye and smiling, "I will read it then." He then laid down on his belly, smoothed out the magazine over the blanket and resumed eating his ice cream as he started to read the article. Next to him, Ginny giggled before returning to her own ice cream, while Luna stared happily at the back of Ron's head as she popped a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

A few minutes and an ice cream bowl later, Ron finished the article. He beamed, "Luna, you didn't make me look like as big of an idiot as I thought I was. Of course after that Death Eater hit me with that weird jinx my memory got kinda fuzzy…"

Ginny snickered while Luna looked almost sheepishly at Ron. "You really weren't _that_ horrible. you just went a little funny, that's all."

Ginny laughed. "Please Luna! There's no need to sugar-coat stuff for him! He knows he's an idiot!"

Ron fumed. "I am not!" he yelled just as Luna angrily said, "No he's not!"

Ginny stopped laughing and stared at her brother and best friend as they stared at each other. After a while, Ron flushed and Luna looked at the ground, seeming slightly embarrassed.

"Well," said Ginny, breaking the uncomfortable silence," I suppose I'll just leave you two to it then."

Neither Ron nor Luna acknowledged her as she hastily left the scene for the safety of the house. Instead, Luna stared even more intently at the ground and Ron turned his attention to a nearby tree.

"So…" said Ron finally, and with forced casualness, "You, uh, don't think I'm an idiot?"

Luna looked up at him and shook her head. "No," she said, "Not at all. I think you're funny."

He finally made eye contact with her. "Really?"

"Yes," she said, smiling vaguely.

"Cool," he managed as he stood up and leaned against the tree he'd stared at earlier. Luna merely watched him as he began scraping the tree trunk with his thumbnail.

One or two long minutes later, Ron spoke up again, "And I, uh, don't think you're insane. I just, uh, think you're a little weird. Bloody hell! That was the wrong thing to say! What I meant was I think you're weird in a _good_ way. Yeah, that's it. And I don't think it's fair how people always make fun of you for being different."

Luna smiled. "Thank you Ronald."

He held out a hand in front of him. "Hold on, I'm not done yet."

She giggled and said, "Okay."

Hew furrowed his eyebrows in thought for a moment then continued his ramble, "And I like that you're not afraid to be yourself, even when people make fun of you. I think it's brave."

He finished by closing his eyes and folding his arms over his chest, signifying that he meant what he'd said. In an instant he felt the girl's hair flying into his face and her arms wrapping around his shoulders. She buried her face into the crook of his neck as she said, "Thank you Ronald," with more emotion in her voice than he'd ever heard from her.

He was quite shocked and unsure of what to do, so he decided to leave it to his instincts to decide. He placed his arms around her petite torso, allowing his hands to rest on the middle of her back as he held her close to him. It was an odd sensation; odd yet comforting. She exhaled contentedly.

Luna finally pulled back, revealing to him a pure smile and eyes swirling with emotion. The sight left him in awe. He could hardly breathe as she said, "I'll see you later Ronald," and walked away with a slight bounce in her step.

Once she'd disappeared into the house, he whispered to himself, "That was _weird_." After a moment of standing still in awe, he moved to pick up the three abandoned ice cream bowls and picnic blanket. Still slightly dazed, he brought them inside to his mother who was now in the living room knitting. Mrs. Weasley laid down her project to take the empty bowls from her son's hands. She looked at him curiously and continued into the kitchen to clean the bowls. He followed her and sat down alone at the table, tossing the blanket onto the chair next to him. As she scrubbed the first bowl clean, Mrs. Weasley asked, "What' wrong dear?"

Ron stared at the empty chair across from him. "Absolutely nothing."

Molly rolled her eyes. "Well then why are you acting so strange? You've been acting odd since lunch— even your brothers noticed."

He shrugged. He'd told the truth: nothing was wrong. In fact, the odd calm that had settled over him felt _right_ if anything.

She turned around from the sink and stared at him intently, trying to figure him out. "Well?" she said expectantly, "I'm waiting for an answer."

He almost didn't want to tell her anything, but he felt that it would be okay if he did. "She hugged me," he said, still staring at the chair.

Mrs. Weasley resumed cleaning the bowls. "Who, your sister? It's not that surprising Ronald; you two may bicker almost constantly, but she still loves you."

"No Mum!" he said, suddenly frustrated, "Not Ginny! Luna! Luna hugged me, just now, outside by that tree." He pointed out the window at the mentioned tree.

She was surprised at first, but as quickly as it had come, her surprise faded to be replaced by a look of motherly understanding. It was the look that she wore, signifying that she new something that he couldn't begin to comprehend. He'd thought he'd finally outgrown that look, having not seen it since he was still too young to go to Hogwarts.

His mother turned off the sink, dried her hands on a dish towel, and sat next to her youngest son. She smiled at him lovingly and asked, "And how did it make you feel?"

He looked at her and shrugged. "I dunno," he said, "I suppose it confused me. I mean, I hardly know her, well I've known her for two years now, but I always thought she was crazy. I've never thought much about her before; I guess I never thought she was all that important, you know?"

"She went with you, Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Neville into the Ministry of Magic that day, didn't she?"

"I know," he said, "If she hadn't woken up when she did, that brain thing probably would've strangled me to death." He sighed. "I just don't understand her."

Mrs. Weasley smiled. "You know," she said conversationally, "I have spent so many years trying to figure your father out, and I've gotten pretty far, but there are _still_ times when I simply cannot understand what goes on in his head. Like those muggle things: batteries, eckelicity or whatever it's called."

Ron chuckled. "Yeah, but what does that have to do with Luna?"

She looked back at her son, "What I'm saying is to not push her away just because you don't understand her. Open up to her and she'll open up to you. And," she added, "given a little time and effort you may learn how to understand her better."

"But will I _ever_ be able to fully understand her?"

Molly Weasley stood up and put a comforting hand on her son's shoulder. "Maybe or maybe not, but that isn't what's important. What _is_ important is the time and effort that you put into it. Who knows," she said wisely, "It may become the best decision you'll ever make."

She left her still confused son to muddle over her words, while she resumed washing the ice cream bowls.

Ron was still perplexed as he walked into his bedroom a few minutes later. He hated it when his mother gave him those annoyingly cryptic answers that were just as confusing to him as studying for tests. But he decided to take the portion of her advice that he understood. He chose to open up to Luna more and get to know her better, and he figured the best way to accomplish this was to spend more time with her and become her friend. Even if that meant spending more time with Ginny, he figured it was worth it. And although he knew that people would tease him for being friends with her, but he realized that Ginny was Luna's best friend and his sister was still popular; and he remembered that Harry, his own best friend, had taken Luna to Slughorn's Christmas party last year, and people still thought of him as "The Chosen One." He finally came to a conclusion: he was determined to be Luna's friend and find a way to understand how she works— and he wasn't going to let either his own laziness or others taunts get in the way of that.

* * *

End Chapter two

-I'm in the process of chapter three, it's going to be longer than these last two though and more actual plot events are introduced. Til next chapter!


	3. Chapter III

**Lose It All**

**by** **Puppy Noelle**

Disclaimer: I own myself, my ideas, my many and numerous notebooks, my imagination, and a few other things nothing worth actual monetary value and basically other than that I own nothing. And, sadly, I own none of the copyrights, trademarks, etc that have to do with the Harry Potter world.

Description: 7th year; Despite the raging war and turmoil of the wizarding world, Ron's life finally seems to be turning around: the crush he's had on Hermione since fourth year is finally becoming more than just a one-sided thing, he becomes a much better Quidditch player, he proves himself to Fred and George, his grades finally start to improve, and he even befriends "Loony" Luna Lovegood. But as he tries to decipher Luna's mysterious ways and defend her from relentless tormenters and non-believers, he must choose between being a renowned hero alongside his two best friends and being the hero of a single lonely girl.

Genres: Romance, Drama (a little bit of everything really, but those are the main two)

Pairings: Ron/Luna, Harry/Hermione, Ginny/Neville

Rating: PG-13, T, whatever the ratings are now… it's too hard to keep track of all the insane changes on this site...

**Chapter III: **_OWLs_ _and Surprises_

Ron was happier than he'd ever felt. The wind whipped through his hair gently as his heart soared… he felt as if he was in heaven. But suddenly he felt as if he was caught in the middle of an earthquake. He awoke to find his entire room trembling around him, although he quickly realised that the only thing actually moving was his mattress. Then, as quickly as the shaking had started, it ceased. There was one final shake of the mattress as a plopping sound erupted from somewhere near his feet. He grunted and rolled over to see what had caused the mini-earthquake.

"Luna…" he groaned groggily, "What are you _doing_?"

She sat at the foot of the bed, staring and smiling innocently at him. "I'm waking you up of course."

He pulled the sheets, trying to block her out. "Why don't you go hang out with Ginny? I'm trying to sleep."

Without warning, she sat herself on top of his stomach and yanked the sheets off his face, and wasted no time in staring him down.

He gasped for air, "Can't breathe…"

She promptly scooted off his belly and instead took residence upon his legs. She pouted. "I couldn't wake Ginny," she said, "She's like dead weight when she's asleep. I tried everything, but she still wouldn't wake up. You're much easier to wake up; I don't understand why your mother has so much trouble with it…"

He attempted to kick her off him, but to no avail. "It's not the waking me up part that's the trouble: it's the getting me out of bed part that's difficult."

"Oh I see…" she responded, lifting herself off his legs and hopping off the bed. She took to grinning mischievously at him.

He gaped at her in horror. "What are you gonna do to me?"

"Just wait and see Ronald."

He gulped and in a split second his sheets were at the foot of the bed and Luna was reaching for his ankles.

"No!" he yelled, sitting bolt upright and grabbing her wrists just as her hands had attached themselves to his shins. "Luna, stop it!"

She was laughing.

"Hey!" he growled as he hopelessly struggled with her hands, "It's not funny!"

He finally managed to detach her fingers from his ankles and shoved her toward the centre of the room. She stared at him, grinning, and said, "Okay Ronald Weasley, you won that round, but let's see if you can beat _this_!"

She pounced at him, her nails soon coming into contact with his stomach as she tried tickling him.

"What are you _doing_?"

"I'm _trying_ to tickle you," she said, showing signs of frustration.

"Well you're not going to get very far since my stomach _isn't_ ticklish."

"Well then _where_ is your ticklish spot?"

"I'm not telling _you_!" he said indignantly.

She pouted again. "Fine then: I'll just find it for myself!"

She tried tickling spot after spot until she reached his sides.

He bit his lower lip to keep from laughing.

"Aha!" she said triumphantly as one hand shot to each side of his torso.

A giggle finally escaped his mouth as his hands helplessly swatted at any part of her arms they oculd hit. "Stop it! Luna! Stop!" he said between attempts at quelling his oncoming laughter.

"Hmm…" Luna said teasingly between her own giggles, "Apparently this isn't working well enough."

She stopped tickling him for a moment only to stick her hands up his shirt and resume attacking his sides, this time making contact his bare skin.

"Ah! Luna, stop!" he managed before his voice burst into fits of laughter.

After a minute or so, she finally stopped to give him a break. He panted heavily and slowly. "Bloody hell… _That_ was _really_ not nice, you know that?"

"I know," she said, staring happily at him.

"Well," he said as soon as his breathing had returned to normal, "Now it's time for some revenge!" Before she could stop him, he grabbed her waist and flipped her over so that now it was Luna who was lying flat on the bed with Ron hovering above her. His fingers dove at her stomach. She let out a brief, high-pitched squeal as he relentlessly tickled her belly. After a few choruses of Luna saying, "No! Ronald, stop it!" he finally relented and, still hovering over her, pushed himself onto the empty space beside her.

He laid down on his back and turned his head to face hers. She too turned her head. As they made eye contact, both burst into laughter.

Ron finally sighed and said, "Wow. That was the most fun I've ever had form a tickle fight since I was about six."

Luna giggled, "Ten for me."

"I guess girls are more into that stuff, huh?"

"Probably."

He sighed, turning his head to read the muggle alarm clock next to his bed.

"Bloody hell," he groaned, "It's only quarter 'til eight. I'm _never_ awake this early."

"Well you're awake now, so there's no reason to say you're _never_ awake this early," she responded in her usual airy manner.

He just looked at her.

"What?" she asked, "You're looking at me funny."

"You're just… a mystery."

"I suppose I would be, seeing as you've known me for two years now and are just now paying me any attention." It was one of those unnerving truths that she always _had_ to say aloud.

"Err…" was all he could manage.

"I don't mind," she continued dreamily, "you're still only the third person to ever express any interest in getting to know me; Ginny was the first and Harry the second."

"…Right…" he responded.

"Well," she continued, "I suppose I'll tell you the basics. Things you already know: name— Luna Lovegood, hair colour— blonde, eyes— silvery blue, height— short, age— sixteen; some other things: favourite colour— blue, favourite animal— Crumple-Horned Snorkack, house— Ravenclaw, favourite class— Care of Magical Creatures. Well… now I suppose I'll allow you to ask questions."

"That simple is it?"

"Yes."

"Okay," he said. "What's your family like?"

She answered the question impassively, "It's just Daddy and I; my mother died when I was nine. She was a very powerful witch, but she liked to experiment with spells, and one day one of them backfired on her. It was quite horrible."

His jaw dropped. "So… you actually _saw_ her die?"  
"Yes."

"Damn… that's terrible."

"It's not like I'll never see her again or anything like that," she said calmly, "Someday I'll find her again."

He looked at her awkwardly again.

"Would you stop giving me funny looks," she said, slightly annoyed, "and ask more questions."

"Right," he said, hastily changing the subject, "Who was your first friend? Ever, I mean."

"Well," she said, putting her index finger to her lip as she pondered the question, "I suppose the first friend I ever had was when I was five; there was this boy that lived next door, but once we got older he started teasing me, then his family moved away not long after Mum died. But," she continued, "my first _real_ friend was Ginny. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Who was your first friend?"

"Oh, I guess Harry was. Our only neighbours are muggles who live several miles away, so I only had my siblings to play with when I was little."

"What about after Harry?" she asked.

He pondered this, "Well, then it was Dean and Seamus, then Neville I guess, then Hermione."

"Really?" she said, "I figured Hermione was second or something."

"Nope. Actually," he confessed, "she didn't become friends with Harry and I until Halloween of first year—we saved her from getting killed by a troll, and she just kinda tagged along with us everywhere since. At first I actually thought all she was was a stuffy, know-it-all bookworm. Well, she is, but there's really more to her than just that. Actually, we all made fun of her before Harry decided to run off and save her."

"Kind of like you were with me before I commentated at that Quidditch match last year."

His stomach wrenched—she telling those uncomfortable truths again. "Err…I suppose…yes."

"Why?" she asked; her voice was suddenly void of all emotion, but somehow he sensed hurt hidden beneath it.

"I dunno…" he replied, trailing off.

"Yes you do," she persisted, although still impassively, "You wouldn't have called me 'Loony' if there was no reason behind it. Nothing happens without a reason."

He bolted up, beginning to get angry, "Hey! It was only that once, and it was after that Death Eater hit me with that funny hex; it wasn't my fault!"

She sat up and shook her head, annoyance getting the best of her, "I know about that, I was there you know. What I'm talking about is the _other_ time."

"When?" he asked huffily.

"After Harry asked me to Slughorn's party. Ginny told me that you called me 'Loony' and that you didn't like that Harry was taking me."

He was at a loss for words. She was right and he couldn't deny it. Instead of looking her in the eye, he focused guiltily on the floor.

She quickly allowed any anger she'd felt wash away: This was the first time they had ever argued, and it was obvious that neither of them had any taste for it.

"I just want to know why, that's all; and why you changed your mind about me," she said finally.

Reluctantly, he looked up at her. He sighed. "It's because…everybody thought you were insane, and _I_ thought you were insane, and…" he said, heating up again, "I'm insecure, if you haven't noticed! I don't want to be made fun of more than I already am!"

"I know," she said, "So what made you change your mind?"

"I suppose it was that commentary at the match against Hufflepuff. It was hilarious. That whole 'Losers Lurgy' thing was brilliant. I never like that Zacharias Smith anyways… And that idiot McLaggen got what was coming to him."

"So all it took was for me to make you laugh?" she asked curiously.

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so," he said as he reached under his bed, pulling out a bag of candy.

She smiled at him. "Well that's easier than I thought. If I'd known that, I would've done something sooner."

He popped a chocolate frog into his mouth and asked, "So, you actually _wanted_ to be my friend?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

He swallowed the chocolate. "I guess… I just didn't think people like me enough to try to become friends with me. I'm nothing like Harry or Hermione, I can why people would want to be friends with either of them, but me? What do I have that they don't?"

"You're right about one thing: you aren't like Harry or Hermione. If anything, you're better than them, you just have to figure out how for yourself. Then you'll see what you have."

Her words puzzled him. But even if he'd wanted to ponder what she meant, he didn't have time to. His bedroom door flew open and in came Ginny, looking both worried and flustered.

"Ron, have you seen—" but she cut herself off when she saw her best friend sitting next to her brother, eating a chocolate frog.

"Oh," she managed, "I was looking for you, Luna. I asked mum if you'd come down yet, and she said she didn't think so. Why in Merlin's name did you wake Ron? I told you it would be alright if you woke me up early."

"You wouldn't wake up," Luna said dreamily, "And I didn't have any trouble waking up Ronald."

"_What_ are you talking about?" the red-haired girl asked, exasperated, "It's _impossible_ to get _him_ up!"

"It's really quite simple," the blonde began, but before she could reveal the secret, Ron's hands had clamped themselves over her mouth.

"Shh!" he hissed hastily into Luna's ear, "Don't tell her _anything_!"

Ginny laughed. "Get over it Ron, she's my best friend, so she's going to tell me later anyways. You'd might as well get it over with now. Right Luna?"

Luna, who looked extremely bored by the situation, shook her head slightly.

Ginny's jaw dropped while Ron grinned triumphantly. Then Luna pulled Ron's hands off her mouth and said to her best friend, "If Ronald doesn't want me to say anything, then I won't."

Ginny's temper flared. She said, "Fine! You and your little boyfriend can keep your stupid secrets!" before she bolted from the room.

Looking only slightly startled, Luna said, "She'll be fine in a little while."

Soon she hopped off the bed and followed her best friend's trail out the door.

Still not intending to leave his room quite yet, Ron plopped down onto his bed and covered himself with the sheets once more.

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When Ron finally dragged himself downstairs an hour later, he noticed that Ginny and Luna were sitting next to each other happily; clearly the earlier argument had dissolved by now.

"Hey Ron," Ginny said, not turning her attention away from the quiz she was working on with Luna in _The Quibbler_.

He plopped into a chair across from the two girls. "Hey Ginny, Luna," he said, still half asleep: waking up early really wasn't a good thing for him; he needed at least another two hours of sleep, but it just wouldn't come.

"Ronald," his mother said while sliding a plate of bacon and eggs to him, "the girls told me that Luna woke you up early, and I'm very glad for it. I would _love_ it if she would stay over more than just one week. It's wonderful when Ginny actually has some company, and Luna's so nice about helping out." Mrs. Weasley beamed at the blonde girl: that is until Luna put on a pair of Spectrespecs and turned _The Quibbler_ upside-down.

Ron could tell that, although his mother was fond of Luna, she still thought that the girl was very strange. Everyone thought, no _knew_, that Luna was weird. He supposed it was just a matter of whether you were willing to accept her quirks or not.

As he began shovelling scrambled eggs into his mouth, there was a rapping sound at the kitchen window. All four of the room's inhabitants turned their attention to the source of the interruption. Just outside the window were two nearly identical brown barn owls, each with a piece of parchment tied to their legs. As Mrs. Weasley quickly made to open the window, Ginny said, both nervously and sarcastically, "Oh great, our OWLs are here."

Once the owls were inside, the two girls each found their respective one and unrolled their scrolls of parchment. Ginny unrolled hers, shaking slightly, while Luna unrolled hers with either boredom or confidence: which one, Ron couldn't tell. He watched as Ginny's eyes rolled over her results twice, making sure that she read them correctly before a grin plastered onto her face. "Yes!" she cheered, "I got just as many OWLs as Ron! Ha! Except I got two O's!"

Luna, too, was smiling. "Daddy will be happy," she said as Ginny snatched the results form her best friend's hands.

"Hey," the red-haired girl said, "You only failed History of Magic and Muggle Studies. Awesome. Why'd you take Muggle Studies anyways?"

"Daddy wanted me to," Luna responded, "I didn't like it much. And so much of the History of Magic information was inaccurate. It's no surprise I got a D: the Ministry always tries to cover up the truth."

"Hey," Ron said, pointing at the rolls of parchment on the table, "Can I see what you two got?"

"Of course," Luna said passively as she handed her results to him.

Examining her results, Ron noticed how good a student Luna was. She had gotten on O in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, and Transfiguration; she'd gotten an E in Astronomy, Herbology, Divination, and Potions; she got a P in Muggle Studies, and a D in History of Magic.

"Wow," he said, "You got really good grades."

"I suppose," Luna responded.

"Why do you do that?" he asked simply.

"Why do I do what?" she asked in return, not knowing his purpose.

"You know," he said, "why do you always act like nothing is a big deal, like nothing is worth anything?"

Luna stared at him, clearly not fancying his challenge on her nature. Ginny glared at her brother. "Ron shut up. Luna doesn't owe you an explanation of why she is the way she is. Nor," she said as she snatched her best friend's test results from his hand, "does she have to tell you anything about her grades, or anything else about herself."

Ron fired up the same angry glare that his sister was using against him, causing a startling resemblance between the two, "So _excuse me_ for trying to be her friend."

Ginny laughed, "You? _You_ trying to be friends with Luna? Give me a break. Since when have you _ever_ become friends with someone you make fun of?"

He stared at his sister defiantly, knowing that he was going to win this argument. "I'm friends with Hermione, aren't I?"

Ginny opened her mouth to retort, but no words would come. Eventually she dug up a comeback of sorts. "Well…" she said, formulating her words carefully, "Just don't you _dare_ do anything to break her heart! _You got it_?"

"I won't."

"You'd better not! Especially after everything you put Hermione through last year."

"Hey!" he said, "I didn't do it on purpose! And it was all _your_ fault anyway!"

"How was it _my_ fault?" Ginny asked, raging. They were both so angry they didn't even notice their mother attempting to break them apart.

"Because you're the one who bloody insulted me! Saying I had as much experience as a twelve year old or whatever it was!"

"Oh please! I'm not the one who made you get all moody or date lavender Brown! Trust me, you could've done a _lot_ better than _her_!"

"Oh, well, who _would_ you have me date then?" he said sarcastically.

"How should I know? That's not my decision!" she retorted, red-faced.

"Come on, tell me! Who would you pick? If I ever left it up to you that is…not that I _would_!"

"You really want to know?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"Yes," he said, staring at her.

"No one," she folded her arms across her chest, talking calmly and defiantly, "I'd choose for you to be all alone for the _rest_ of your _life_."

Ron's temper was over the edge; his sister had finally pushed him too far. He yelled, "Shut up!" at her as he pulled his arm back, then thrust it toward her face. But just before his fist came in contact with his sister's face, something yanked him backward.

"Stop it!" Luna yelled in his ear, gripping his torso tightly in her arms. Despite his rage, he allowed himself to relax slightly in her arms as she dragged him out of the kitchen and toward the stairs. Once they reached the stairs, Luna swung him around, grabbed his arm in her hand, and dug her nails into his skin. She glared at him and said, "What the hell were you thinking? Why did you try to hit Ginny?"

"She asked for it!" Ron replied bitterly.

Luna's free hand smacked his cheek, leaving him stunned. "She _never_ asked for you to hit her."

He made a lame attempt to justify himself, "You heard what she said!"

"Yes I did, but that doesn't give you the right to try and hit her."

"But Luna…" he whined, trying to appear as pitiful as possible.

She released her grip on his arm and merely looked at him: no anger, no pity; she just looked at him and said, "Ronald, I appreciate that you want to be my friend, but if you and Ginny are only going to have row after row about it, then it's not worth it."

"What!" he said, more than asked, "That's not fair! Luna! I _want_ to be your friend!"

"And I want to be yours, but if this is how things are going to be then it can't work."

"But Ginny and I _always_ fight. We're siblings, that's how it works. It's always been this way, ever since we were little. Come on, she _dated_ my best friend and I didn't row with them about it! I didn't _like_ it, but I didn't fight them over it either."

"That's the difference Ronald: you and Ginny are _arguing_ and _fighting_ over me. You never argued or fought over Harry."

"We did too argue, occasionally."

"But it never resulted in anything serious right?"

"Well no, but—"

"That's all it takes. Blood is the most important thing there is. It binds people together: and if anything comes between them then it's not worth it."

"But Luna!"

"No Ronald, I'm sorry," she said, turning to leave.

Ron grabbed her arm. "Luna, please don't do this. Please, I promise I won't fight with Ginny about it ever again," he pleaded earnestly.

She sighed in hesitation, but succumbed to the weakness that was Ron Weasley. "Alright," she said reluctantly, "but nothing like this can _ever_ happen again."

"It won't."

"Good. Now…" she said as she grabbed the hand that had previously held onto her arm, "You are going back into the kitchen and apologise to Ginny."

His stubbornness flared up initially, but one glance at how serious Luna actually was, and he mutely allowed her to pull him away from the stairs. As they walked to the kitchen Ron thought he was going mad. Why was he letting his sister win? It made absolutely no sense. And why was he being so submissive toward Luna? Ever since she'd arrived the day before he'd essentially allowed her to walk all over him. And yet he wasn't complaining. He was just so confused. He _never_ back down for his sister, never backed down for Hermione, and never even considered doing so—his male ego saw to that. Yet as he entered the kitchen and saw his sister's face, mixed with rage, shock, and hurt, he realised that this wasn't about the red-haired girl in front of him, nor about the wise red-haired woman with a comforting arm around her daughter's shoulders, nor about the bushy-haired bookworm that had always tried, and miserably failed to dominate him, nor was it about any other girl, or person, for that matter. It was solely about the strange blonde girl next to him, who still held on firmly to his unsteady hand.

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end chapter three

Now the end has come for the longest chapter so far. Happy thoughts. Well, if I'm lucky I should be able to get chapter four typed up and posted by tomorrow, and maybe even chapter five. Although chapter five is driving me a bit mad right now; you'll all understand why when I actually get it posted. It was a _very_ frustrating chapter to write and even worse to edit, so I hope when it finally comes that everybody enjoys it, especially since it'll probably turn out to be one of my favourites in the end.

Oh, I'm sure you're wondering, but just so you know, I have almost a full outline for this story in my notebook so that shudders should I have to take a break from working on this story for a while, I'll actually be able to pick up where I left off. It's one of those helpful things I've finally learned to do after nearly seven years of writing fanfiction. So yeah, I have a definite plan for where this story is going to go, there will be times when you'll probably want to throw bricks at my bedroom window or curse me into oblivion, but just so you know, during such moments in this story I will also have the desire to do such things to myself although I will certainly restrain myself from said behaviour so as to fix the thoughts of evil nature by adding in lots of happy Ron/Luna fluffiness. I always have to have fluffiness, heaven knows… It's kind of like my calling in life, I suppose if I had to have a superhero name I'd be the "Fluffinator" or something equally cliché and utterly ridiculous. Wow, I'm rambling far too much: that's what happens when I stay up past midnight doing this stuff with no sounds but those of my snoring dog, who just so happens to be an inch away from the back of my laptop's screen at the moment. So yeah, that's what happens. Wow, I totally need to shut up now. Anyways… until chapter four!

Luv

Noelle


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